Marking tag machine counter device



Dec. 23, 1952 sc 2,622,804

- MARKING TAG MACHINE COUNTER DEVICE Filed April 19, 1,950

INVENTOR.

000mg, M

ATTORNEYS Figure 6 is an elevational View of the ratchet pawl of the assembly looking at the assembly from the right, as shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figure l, the counter device comprises in general a base plate Ill which is pierced by holes i l in order to provide means for afiixing the device to the frame of a marking tag machine. The counting mechanism is enclosed partly by a frame i2 having side walls l3l3 and a base portion I4. Around the outside of the frame 2, a housing member I5 is provided to complete the enclosure. The housing l5, shown in profile in Figures 3, 4, and 5, includes a semicircular portion which terminates in a flange I? and a straight-walled portion 18 terminating in a flange 20. The two flanges I1 and 20, extend toward each other under the base portion [4 of the frame and are clamped between the frame base and the base plate [3 by flat headed bolts, indicated at 21. The two flanges preferably are pierced to accommodate the bolts 2|.

The numbered dials are at the left side of the counter housing. In this particular instance, only three dials are utilized. More may be added if desired. The 100s dial, which is to the left, is indicated by the numeral 22, the lOs dial by the numeral 23, and the digits dial by the numeral 24. Each of these dials is provided with a knurled rim 25 to facilitate manual rotation. It is suggested that these knurled rims be of different sizes so that the various dials can be determined by touch. In the devices shown, the digits dial has a larger rim than the other two, the l0s dial being somewhat smaller, and the 100s dial being smaller still. An indicator such as the inscribed arrow 29 is provided on the housing opposite the dials to indicate the point at which the dials are to be set.

An actuating lever 23 and a trip lever 21 extend from the rear of the counter through a slot 23 in the straight-walled portion 13 of the housing. The actuating lever 26 includes a pin 33 which is in connection with a forked link 3 l The actuating lever may be attached to any one of the parts of a marking tag machine which reciprocates once each time that the marking machine functions to the print or dispensing a tag. In Unitedv States patent application Serial No. 138,175, filed January 13, 1950, a marking machine of this type is disclosed. In the drawings of the identified application, a counter made in accordance with the principles disclosed here is shown in operative connection with the tag cut-off knife. It is preferred that the linkage between the actuating lever and reciprocating part be arranged to have the lever in the elevated position at the end of each cycle.

The trip lever 21 is depressed by the counter mechanism when the dials are turned from 000 to 999. This lever also includes a pin 32, similar to the pin 33, the pin being attached to a rod 33 which controls throw-out mechanism adapted to disengage the clutch between the drive mechanism and the driven part of the machine. The link 32 may be adapted, if desired, to throw a switch cutting off electric current to the drive motor. The link and clutch, or switch mechanism, form no part of the present invention and. are, therefore, not shown. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the link may take various forms depending on the type throw-out or switch mechanism utilized in order to stop the machine at a point determining a completion of a full cycle of operation.

The numbered dials assembly and the counter mechanism disposed within the housing are supported on a shaft 34 which extends through the housing. On the right end of shaft 34, a collar element 35 i affixed by a pair of set screws 33-48, the set screws being disposed at to one another. The inner end of collar 35 is counterturned to provide a bushing 31 which extends inside of the housing around shaft 34. The bushing 31 is also counterturned near the inner end thereof to provide the journal sleeve 38. The bushing 37 is mounted within a bearing sleeve 43 which is journalled within an aperture 4| provided in the right side wall l3 of the frame l2. Journal sleeve 38 carries a ratchet wheel 42 and an index wheel 43, these two elements being keyed on the sleeve by the fiat shown at 44 in Figure 3. Thus, the index wheel 43 and ratchet wheel 42 turn with shaft 34. At the right end of the shaft, the numbered dial 22, which is the 's dial, is affixed to shaft 34 so that the 100s dial also turns with shaft 34. Thus, dial 22, index wheel 43 and ratchet wheel 42 comprise a set which operates in unison.

The 10s dial 23 is also keyed to a similar set of wheels, these being the ratchet wheel indicated at 45 and the index wheel indicated at 46. This assembly is rotatably journalled on shaft 34, the interconnection being made by a sleeve 41, one end of which is afiixed to dial 23 by a pair of set screws 48, and the other end of which is keyed to the respective wheels 45 and 46 by a flat similar to the one shown at 44.

The digits dial 24 is mounted on a sleeve 50 which is in turn rotatably journalled on the sleeve 41 of the lOs dial assembly, the latter sleeve being counterturned as at 5| to accommodate sleeve 50. Sleeve 50 is also counterturned to provide a journal 49 which resides within an aperture in the left wall l3 of the frame similar to aperture 4|. Dial 24 is affixed to sleeve 5|] by the set screws 52. At the inner end of sleeve 50. a set of index and ratchet wheels are provided, the ratchet wheel being indicated at 53 and the index wheel at 54. These two wheels are keyed to the counterturned inner end of sleeve 50 at the fiat shown at 55 in Figure 5.

The index wheels 43, 46 and 54 are substantially identical, the only difference bein that index wheel 54 has a larger center opening than the other two in order to accommodate the sleeve 50. As shown in Figure 5, each index wheel is provided with ten symmetrical teeth which define ten detent depressions 56 corresponding to the ten numbers on each dial. It is to be noted that each of the detent depressions 53 is cut at a greater angle than 90, or, as shown, at approximately Each one of the ratchet wheels 42 includes nine rather shallow ratchet teeth, indicated at 51, and one deep recess 58. Unlike the teeth in the index wheels, the teeth in the ratchet wheels are cut at approximately 90. or less to provide sharp radial shoulders for the engagement of pawl mechanism to be described below. The deep recess on each ratchetwheel corresponds positionally to the zero numeral on the dial to which it is keyed.

Each index wheel is engaged by a spring urged detent finger 60. The fingers are journalled on a common shaft 6| which extends from side wall to side wall in frame I2. The spring, indicated at 62, which is utilized with each of the detent fingers, is of bent, U-shape configuration engaging the underside of the detent andextending around shaft Bl to lay against the upper face of base [4. The spring being under tension when in the position shown in Figure san sto- "urge. the

manually in either direction. The relatiolfi h p of t e l n an de whee s. 9. th at et mechanism employed for turning the ratchet wheels is explained below.

The actuating lever 26 is a continuation of a U-shaped pawl carriage 6}, The carriag lnud a pair t aments nam tw sides; se o "be t geth r. a; r ss.- piece 66 'The journal 65 at theright side of; the

pawl carriage is mounted upon bearing sleeve 46:

just inwardly ofthe rightside wall I 3: of frame l2, and the left journalof the carriageis mounted on sleeve 59, both'mountings areslip fits so that the carriage is free to rotate'tl ereon, At

the right side a washer t! is provided to decreasef friction between the journal 65 and 'the trip lever El. At the topof the carriagefi l-a ratchet pawllll is journalled on a pin H which is mounted between a pair ofcars 68' -68 exte'nding upwardly from the respective journals or side walls 65 of the pawl carriage. At the rear edge of ratchet pawl Til, a depending flange i2 is provided. The lower edge of the depending flange is cut in steps, as shown in Figure 2. Four such steps are provided. The one at the left being the lowermost of the four is adapted to engage with ratchet wheel 53, or the digits ratchet wheel; th second step from the left is adapted to engage with the lOs ratchet wheel 4.5; and the third step from the left is adapted to engage with, the 100s ratchet wheel 42; while thefourth step from the left is adapted to, engage with a deep recess 13, similar to the deep recesses '58 in the ratchet wheels, which is cut into the trip lever, the trip lever being journalled on bearing sleeve 4i] and adapted to pivot around shaft 34. At the front of the ratchet pawl 10, a cam surface 14 is formed, the surface being cut on a continuation of one of the pawl journalled flanges l5 -l5, turned downwardly at right angles at the two sides of pawl through which pin ll extends. The pawl 10 is urged to pivot clockwise, as shown in Figure 4, by means of a spring 1'6 which is wound around pin H and engaged in a slot 11 in the forward face of crosspiece 66 at the lower end, and against the forward edge of pawl it at the upper end.

When the pawl assembly is in the position shown in Figure 4 of the drawing, the cam surface 14 is in engagement with a pin I8 which extends across the space between the two side walls of the frame, which engagement lifts the stepped end 12 of the pawl upwardly pivoting the pawl 'lil about the pin H. In the position shown, the actuating lever 26 is in the uppermost position.

Operation With the numbered dials set at a selected number, the marking machine is turned on, and the actuating lever 26 is moved up and down with the cyclically operating part to which it is attached. As the lever starts down, the pawl carriage i l pivots about shaft 34 and cam surface 14 is moved away from pin I3. Such movement 6 permits the spring 16 to force the stepped end. 12 of the" pawl downwardly until the lowermost, or left hand step of the" four engages. with a notch in the'digits ratchet wheel 53; Each time the actuating lever is depressed, the/ratchet wheelis indexed one notch. On'each upstroke.

of the actuating lever, the stepped end 12. of the. pawl rides over" the ratchet in clockwise. direction, the ratchet wheel being. maintained in. POSi-r tion and held against counter rotation, by means. of the detent finger BOwhichengages the notches. When the actuating.

56 ofthe index wheel 54.. lever approaches the uppermost. position, the. cam surface engages with. pin [8 and thepawl assembly is pivotedfiabout. pin ll, thus. raising. the toothed end 52. fromv con-tact with theratchet wheel.

As an example, suppose that the countenisset for a runof 253 tags. After.thexactuatlnglever 25' has depressed three times, the deeprecessih in the units ratchet wheel 53. is under the lower: most stepon thepawl, and underthe. action of spring it the pawl'is depressed until thesecondlowermost step'of. the pawl. engages. with one, of the shallow teeth. El. on the llls ratchet wheel es, and the 161s dial is therefore indexed. one notch from 5 to e. as theuni-tfs dial moves. from 0 to 9 Thus, on everyten movements of the, actuating lever thereafter, ratchet wheelflfi; is. in-. dexed one notch evierytime. thatnotch. 5.9; in .the units ratchet comes" underthe. lowermost. of. the steps on the pawl. ffhe. same .thing. happens .betweenv ratchet wheel 45. and ratchet wheel; 42, ratchet wheel t2 beinginterconneoted.withthe 10Gs dial. The. indexingbetween, ratchet; wheels continues until finally all three, of the, deep recesses. 98 on the. three. ratchet, wheels, are aligned, this occurring. when the threedialsread 000. With three of. the. deeprecesses lined up, the pawl Iii can, on the.nextreciprocation of the actuating lever, lower 110191,. point, where the up, p r or right step otthe. four. cneaseswit the deep. recess lain the trip lever 2-1; Upon the next depression of the actuating lever 26, the trip lever 2'! is moved to disengage the drive and, therefore, shut off the machine. It will be noted that in this last mentioned movement, all three dials are indexed one notch at the time the trip lever is moved. This motion brings the numbers on the dials to a position Where they read 999, or one more than the number to which they were originally set, thus compensating for the tag first off the run which was left in the machine at the end of the previous run.

At this time any one of the dials is free to be turned in either direction since the ratchet pawl "Hi is in the elevated position as a result of the contact between cam face 74 and pin 18. Under these conditions, the only means restraining the dials are the three detent fingers 60 which are in engagement with the respective index wheels. Thus, at the completion of any run, the dials are free to be reset by movement in either direction, and also in any order, since there is no interconnection between the various ratchet and index wheel assemblies of the three sets. This condition prevails not only at the end of a complete run, when the dials read 999, but also at any time that the machine is shut off manually at the end of a complete cycle during a run because the actuating lever is in the up position at the end of every cycle. This arrangement is particularly convenient in case it is found that a mistake has been made in the characters impressed on the tags first run off, and it is necessary to reset the dials to start the run over again.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Ina marking machine counter mechanism a rotatable dial having the numerals zero through nine indicated thereon at equally spaced intervals, a ratchet wheel and an index wheel keyed to said dial and adapted to rotate therewith, said ratchet wheel including nine shallow teeth corresponding to the numerals one through nine on said dial and a deep recess corresponding to the zero on said dial, said index wheel having ten symmetrical detent teeth corresponding to the numerals zero through nine on the dial, a spring urged detent finger engageable with the detent teeth of said index wheel and arranged to permit movement of the index wheel in either direction, a reciprocating pawl adapted to engage said ratchet teeth and advance the ratchet wheel one-tenth of a revolution when moved in one direction and slide over the ratchet teeth when moved in the opposite direction, a trip lever mounted adjacent said ratchet wheel, a recess on said trip lever corresponding to a zero setting of the dial adapted to be engaged by said pawl when said pawl is engaged in the deep recess on the ratchet wheel whereby said trip lever is moved with the ratchet wheel for one-tenth of a revolution. and means lifting said pawl from engagement with the ratchet wheel teeth when said pawl is retracted whereby the dial is free to be moved manually in either direction.

2. A subtracting counter device adapted to eifect shut off of a cyclically operating marking tag machine after a set number of cycles plus one comprising, a frame, a shaft mounted in said frame, a numbered dial affixed to said shaft having the numerals zero through nine indicated thereon at equally spaced intervals, a ratchet wheel and an index wheel keyed to said shaft, said ratchet wheel having nine shallow ratchet teeth thereon corresponding to the numerals one through nine on the dial andone deep recess corresponding to the numeral zero on the dial, said index wheel having ten detent teeth thereon cor responding to the numerals zero through nine on the dial, a spring-urged detent finger engageable with the detent teeth and configurated to permit movement of the index wheel in either direction, a pawl carriage pivotally mounted on the shaft, means linking the pawl carriage to a part of the machine which reciprocates once during each operating cycle of the machine whereby the carriage is moved in the direction correspondingto the subtracting direction of the dial during the first portion of the reciprocal movement and is retracted during the second portion of said movement, a pawl pivotally mounted on the carriage and adapted to move therewith, spring means urging said pawl into engagement with the ratchet teeth, cam means adapted to move said pawl out of engagement with said teeth at the completion of each reciprocating movement of the carriage, a trip lever pivotally mounted on the shaft adjacent the ratchet wheel, said lever having a recess corresponding to a zero setting of the dial and engageable by the pawl only when said pawl is engaged in the deep tooth of the ratchet wheel whereby the trip lever is advanced onetenth of a revolution with the ratchet wheel from the position corresponding to the zero setting of the dial to a position corresponding to the nine setting of a dial, and means linking said trip lever to shut-off mechanism of the machine.

PAUL H. HAMISCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 334,534 Marshall Jan. 19, 1886 1,988,365 Thackeray Jan. 15, 1935 2,030,624 Ek et al Feb. 11, 1936 2,296,223 Smith Sept. 15, 1942 

